a britt in ireland. - girlbits

come and gone.

girlbits — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

it seems like only yesterday i was posting in anticipation for my mom's arrival. now it's all over!

i'll post more with pictures tomorrow hopefully, but it was a great visit and very nice to get a little taste of home to get me through my last few months over here.

speaking of which, i officially changed my flight from june 22nd to August 12th. i decided it wasn't time to go home yet so i gave myself another 2 months or so. i miss home like crazy but i have so much more to do here and am quickly running out of time! so i'm sticking around until mid-August to find out what an irish summer is like.

thanks for your patience, group. although you've all probably seen all the pictures on facebook anyway but it's always nicer with a story attached. i'll post a nice, long, picture-filled entry as soon as possible.

apologies for my absence.

much love.

4 days!!

girlbits — Sat, 05 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

can you believe it?? 4 days until the crazy canucks come join me on the emerald isle! i'm so excited i'm pretty much crying all the time now. i envision seeing my mom at the airport and instant tears. this might get messy once the real thing happens.

and the boy is up in northern Ireland this weekend for stephen's birthday. i wanted to go but unfortunately have to work... and i don't think i really want to know what's happening up there anyway, so it's probably best i didn't go. plus it's bad form to ask for days off 4 days before a 3 week vacation. so i am alone in the apartment this weekend just cleaning and anticipating company on thursday.

what else is going on over here? not a hell of a lot. i just thought i'd share my joy and excitement over mom and myrna's arrival on thursday. i'll try to update mid-visit to give everyone a progress report.

happy cinqo de mayo everyone! (and Kentucky Derby day)

ps. why does it automatically default to "United States Derby"?? that's strange. why can't i say K-e-n-t-u-c-k-y??

razzle dazzle!

girlbits — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

i'm not even going to bother trying to explain myself anymore, this is just getting ridiculous. but, sneaky as i am, i figured out a way to blog from work. don't tell my boss.

(there seems to be a bit of a sizing issue with a few of the pictures. i'll post them now and fix them later. sorry about that.)

so, let's see. what has happened. first of all, the weather has been amazing. apparently in the papers at home it says it's been raining in dublin, but they're all lies! it's been so hot and sunny for about 3 weeks now, and i think that was what they call summer. but i did manage to get a few good trips in, and a few good sunburns as well.

paddy, ceira, niall, neil, britt

first, there was our work party. or "work do" as they call it. we had just finished cheltenham, which is one of the biggest horse race meetings in the uk (busy times for paddy power), and the company took us out for some drinks. needless to say, it got a little out of hand. free bar and a bunch of crazy people? it can only end well.

brian malone & seamus

britt & kevin

there are way more pictures from that night, but i've only chosen my favourites. and you've probably seen the video already on my livejournal. it was a fun night.

a few weekends ago the lovely kevin clancy and i had a day off together (finally) and i mentioned that i hadn't yet seen the irish sea. crazy, i know. so we hopped on a train and he took me out to bray which is in wicklow, the county south of dublin (it's on the map up there). it was a beautiful train ride along the coast and a beautiful beach once we got there.

bray

it was an interesting little town, but very cute. i was surprised at the number of casinos on the main street just behind the beach (or "amusements" as they say here) but not too surprised to go in and have a look around. we spent most of the day on the beach, then had a pint on a patio, played some pool, then caught the train back home. good day.

it's so hard to remember things that have happened and in what order. i should be keeping a journal of interesting things that i do and then transcribe it to here to avoid all this confusion. meh.

i finally visited the cemetery across the street from my building. i know, dad, it only took 8 months. the cemetery is cut into two sides, the old one and the new one. i can only see the new one from my window but have been wanting to look around the old one for quite some time. i walked around a little, but got a little creeped out by some guys sitting on the church steps making animal noises at me, so i promptly left. i'll go back at some point.

after the failed cemetery attempt, i hopped on a bus into town to catch yet another train to an unknown destination. i had a day off, kev was working, the sun was shining, and i wanted to do something fun. so i got to the train station and decided to go to howth. howth is north of dublin city (only about half an hour on the train) and was one of my favourite places yet. (you can see it on the map above as well)

i did a lot of walking that day. there are two main piers you can walk out on, and then the main walking street in the "town"...

i spent a lot of time on the piers, just enjoying the sunshine and taking lots of pictures. as you'll see below:

windy.

a girl came up to me when we were out near that island and asked me to take her picture (we were both taking a lot of pictures of ourselves). i recognized the accent right away and said "oh my god! canadian??". i couldn't believe it. i'm pretty sure she's the first canadian i've met here. and from vancouver, of all places! we were both very excited to hear a familiar accent and ended up taking the train home together to discuss our travels. it was nice to meet someone else who was away from home by herself in a foreign country and hear her stories.

so that was really fun. it's nice to get out of the city for a while and see some water and some greenery. reminds me of where i am.

i'm glad that kevin taught me how to take the train so now i can go pretty much anywhere. and ireland is so small, you can get to the other side of the country in like 2 hours. i've been wanting to go to belfast for a day, but haven't had the time or money. but i do have the weekend off, so we'll see.

not much else is going on over here. melinda moves back home on thursday, which means it's been 3 whole months already! i can't believe it! another roommate come and gone. but this means that i get the place to myself for a few weeks, and then it's mom and myrna time! i can't believe how quickly that's coming up. i'm really really excited and we have so many great things planned for their trip. also, i have the whole 3 weeks off work so that's another thing to be excited about.

then that brings us to the end of may, june i'll be working and saving, july i'll be spending some time in spain and italy, then coming home before my birthday in august. it's all happening so fast! but i was accepted to ubc for september, and would really like to get all of that finished, so i'll need some time to get home, get settled, and get my normal accent back. i guess there's no sense in worrying about all that now, i still have another good 3 months here.

so, i'm very sorry about the delay in my posting. now that i know i can do this from work i might be posting more often... but who knows... i hope everyone's well at home, and don't forget to keep in touch!

and even though the games are on around 3am here, i'm still keeping up with the hockey playoffs. i'm the only person in ireland who watches hockey, but i'm still supporting my team! go canucks!!

the shankill butchers wanna catch you awake...

girlbits — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

okay, i know what you're all thinking. you can stop emailing, you can stop calling my mom... i'm alive. not being able to access my blog from home is becoming a big inconvenience. i recently had a 17 day work week without a day off, then had a sunday and monday (stat holiday) off so the library wasn't open, and today is finally a day when i can let you know what's been going on over here.

excusez-moi du dérangement.

anyway, i don't even know what to say or where to begin. as you can imagine, lots has happened in the last month and it's hard to sum it all up or properly explain it all in one go.

so, stephen moved back to newry (northern ireland). it's so sad not having him at work anymore as he was really the one who got me through every day with a smile on my face (not to mention the bombardments)... we had a few good nights out before he left though, which included a night at eamon doran's.

this is kevin. you'll hear more about this dreamy boy later.

then christophe came to stay with us for st patricks day weekend! it was nice to have my kiki back for a few days, but i also started to realize how small my apartment was with 4 people in it. anyway, you'll see more of him after i talk about st patricks day.

st patricks day was interesting. i didn't really know what to expect as melinda and i were leaving the house... we were trying to prepare for every possible situation, but obviously didn't prepare ourselves for what actually happened. we left around quarter to 11 to get the luas into town. the parade was at noon so we figured we had plenty of time. we're lucky because we are the last (or first, depending on which way you're going) stop so we're always first to get on. but the line for the ticket machine went about 2 blocks down the street, so our "it won't be crowded in tallaght" theory didn't pan out so well.

we finally got on and about 3 stops later the train was completely packed. lucky for us we got seats back in tallaght, but people were practically sitting on top of us anyway. people kept trying to just squeeze in at every stop even though people would tumble out every time the doors opened.

it was busy. and gave us some idea of what to expect in town.

we made it to the last stop, which was not quite in town because of the parade. so we had to walk for about half an hour before getting close to the parade route. we were planning on meeting with morten and preben, but once we reached the corner they were on we realized we were on opposite sites separated by the parade gates and there was no getting across. we stood waiting for the parade, and around 1pm decided it was too crowded and too long to wait for the parade. we saw a few guys in hats and heard some irish music... but other than that we just completely couldn't take it.

we decided to get out of the crowds and had to walk down dame street to get to temple bar. the crowds were stopped. and not comfortably stopped. melinda and i had to walk one block and it took us about an hour of being squished, pushed, and very claustrophobic.

but we made it!

and by that time it was definitely time for some food and drinks. so we went and got some lunch and a pint, then headed to the pub for some serious recovery guinness. the pub wasn't too bad at first. it was crowded, but the parade still hadn't ended so we were among the hardcore early drinkers still. but eventually the crowds started pouring in and, again, we had people sitting in our laps. but melinda took advantage of this situation by leaning her head on the guy in her lap. quite clever, mimi.

anyway, the pub got really crowded. and i'm not just talking kinda crowded. we actually couldn't move in there. but we met some interesting people, managed to get to the bar a few times for some pints, and joined in on a few good bar crowd sing-a-longs.

we decided to leave there before the oxygen ran out, and headed to another pub to meet the students. they were at turk's head, which is just outside temple bar, and which was far less crowded. melinda went home pretty soon after we got there because i think she was a little overwhelmed from the day (plus it was about 7:30 and we started drinking at noon). but i stayed with the students and danced until kevin and stephen got there. the night ended well, and kevin took me home around 11:30 because, honestly, 12 hours of drinking is a bit too much.

so, overall, i guess i was a little disappointed. every irish person i know told me not to go into town because it's way too crowded and full of tourists. i honestly didn't see one irish person (except kevin and stephen) the whole day. it was all the americans and australians who kept picking fights with eachother in the overcrowded pub. i've learned my lesson for next time. but it was still a good day.

what's next? oh yes, kiki. i didn't see as much of him as i would have liked, only because he wasn't here long and he had a lot of people to see. and i still had to work. but he did end up meeting up with us on paddy's day and we went to the plaza for a few pints on his last night. it was really fun to see him and very sad to see him go again.

but a fun weekend.

so, they have this weird game here... it's not even really a game, just a thing that people do in pubs... where you put your mobile on top of your pint glass? very strange. but colm decided to do this (let me mention as well that he's been off drink for a month because of lent... so he used his pint of club orange) and was the only one to drop his phone into his glass. the sober one.

so kiki one-upped him by playing the mobile game and drinking out of the glass as well. this brings a whole new level to an already weird and boring "game".

the last thing i'll talk about is last weekend. i hadn't seen morten and preben for quite some time so we went for dinner on saturday and got all caught up. then we met up with kevin and louise and went for some drinks at bob's in temple bar.

the night got a little messy. can i just mention as well that at one point we noticed firetrucks outside bringing their hoses into the bar? we asked what was going on and the doorman was like "oh, there's a fire inside." apparently they don't evacuate bars in dublin if there are fires? so we went back upstairs and it smelled so badly of fire and smoke that we ended up leaving. a similar situation happened the other day at work when there was a gas leak. the smell was so strong that we were all feeling light-headed and dizzy, and there were about 4 cop cars and 2 firetrucks outside... but still we were all working as normal. no one light a cigarette!

what a weird country i'm in.

so, that's been my life. there has been so much more going on between all the things i have pictures of... but i guess i can't go over everything.. and i doubt you'd read it all anyway. it's been really good over here though. the weather has been nice (apart from a few freak snow storms), i've been keeping busy, and am in constant anticipation of mom's arrival in may! hopefully i'll have more regular days off from now on so i'll be able to post once in a while. i have a bunch of great videos of random things but i can't post them on here so i'll have to set something up to show those. it should only take another month.

thanks for your patience and concern, everyone.

it's raining, it's pouring...

girlbits — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

well, well, well...

so i found myself with another day off and decided i just had to tell the story of sunday, our day at the races. because it's worth it.

morten came over to my place around noon and i was still getting ready. noel (guy from work) was picking us up at half twelve to head out to naas.

fyi: you can see naas (pronounced "nase") on the map above... it's in the county beside dublin, county kildare.

we only got a little lost on our way to the racetrack, and when we found it we decided it was best to park in a Field beside the main entrance... why didn't anybody else think of this! i was wearing my brand new leather boots, so i didn't appreciate having to walk through the mud, but i guess it's better than having to walk 3 kilometres from the car to the entrance.

we got in, immediately found the beer, and headed inside to place our bets. i had researched a bit beforehand, but was still completely lost when i got there. i placed a patent on the first three races, a few each way bets, a lucky 15, and some random singles (i'm getting good at this!). we took our dockets and headed out to the stands to see the first race.

you know, i've been to the races before at home, but it looks nothing like this. we have those small oval-shaped courses (i swear the horses are smaller too) and here the track is 2 miles long and has all sorts of jumps and walls. everyone brings binoculars to see the horses on the other side... i didn't think of that.

anyway, my horse won the first race. so i figured i was guaranteed to win the rest of them too now that i was on a roll. unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that way. i lost the next 5 races (there were only 7). but, in my defense, one of morten's horses fell and one of them died halfway through the race. now THAT is bad luck.

so, i was out of money and decided that horse racing is probably not going to make me millions. but i found a horse called "bootlegger" in the last race and decided that it was a sign because of my fabulous new boots. so i put the rest of my money on him, and he ended up winning me all my money back and more! phew!

we finally headed out to the car and noticed the traffic was stopped on the way out. we thought we were quite clever because we could pass all the traffic by driving along the Field we had parked in. instead, our car got stuck in the mud. joke's on us! but we then noticed that pretty much everyone else who thought they were so clever to park in this Field was also stuck in the mud. but luckily there was a giant tractor (who obviously saw this coming) there to pull everyone out.

i'm just glad i didn't have to push.

at least it was entertaining.

we got dropped off at my place, a little tipsy, and decided to kidnap melinda and take her to the george. the george is the biggest gay bar in Ireland, and also the highest grossing bar in Ireland... and i hadn't been there yet? crazy! it took some serious begging, but melinda finally got herself cutified and hopped in a cab with us on our way to Acapulco (the mexican restaurant... not the city). we had a fantastic dinner, then headed off to gay bingo and a drag show.

i was wondering what the difference between canadian and irish drag queens would be... turns out it's just the accent. but there is a big difference between canadian and irish bingo! we all looked at our bingo cards and had no idea what to do with them. this is not the O69, B4 (b4 what!) i'm used to. we ended up asking a few people and got the hang of it.

melinda was 1 number away from winning the whole thing. i was not even close. maybe i should stick to horses.

what a fantastic day though! horses, bingo, and drag queens. my three new favourite things.

there's nothing to lose...

girlbits — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

well, i made it. my weekend in london was so superfantastic.

so i flew out of dublin on friday morning. dublin airport is surprisingly easy to navigate, so i ended up at my gate quite early. once i flew in to london, everything went smoothly until i had to find my hotel. well, smoothly only because i asked a million questions to every info desk available.

britt: umm... so how do i take the tube?

info desk: you buy a ticket. then get on.

britt: oh! okay. so... can i buy a ticket from you?

info desk: yes.

britt: great! then where do i go?

info desk: just down there. follow the signs.

britt: fantastic. and what do i do with my ticket?

info desk: put it through the machine at the gate.

britt: okay. i think i've got it.

info desk: great.

britt: so where do i go?

it was painful. but i found it! it's funny when, at home, your skytrain system is up high so you can see it, and we really only have one line. and it's on the honour system so you don't have to put your ticket through any machine to get on. come to think of it, the skytrain is kinda weird.

anyway, i finally figured it all out. i got a day pass for the underground and became an expert by the end of the trip.

i made it to my stop where, apparently, my hotel is "just across the street". i ended up circling the block a few times before asking someone. in my defense, it was NOT "just across the street". anyway, i finally made it to the hotel which ended up being very nice. i dropped my stuff off, cleaned myself up, and headed out for a day of adventure.

i looked at the map to plan out my journey (we all know i hate to take maps out on the street, and i needed to be organized because i only had 2 days to see everything) and went out on my way.

i started at buckingham palace...

then i turned around and saw something i recognized off in the distance!

how convenient that everything you want to see in london is very tall.

so i went to see big ben...

which is a lot bigger than i had anticipated.

and then i stopped by westminster abbey as well...

westminster abbey

behind that i could see the london eye just past some buildings so i walked towards the lights and finally found it as well...

by the end of the day i was really tired (it doesn't sound like a lot of walking, but it really was) and hungry, so i hopped on the tube and went back to the hotel. i had no plans for friday night, so i looked in my london book and found what looked like a cute little jazz bar in soho. i went for dinner at a little italian place near my hotel, then caught a cab to soho to go for a few drinks.

the bar ended up being one of the best bars i've ever been to. it was so small and intimate, and the band was amazing. i ended up flirting with the waiter for most of the night, and talking to a guy who just happened to be from victoria. what are the chances?? although people assumed we were together because we both had accents and we were sitting together... and of course he had to be that jerk who yells stuff like "Smokin hot!!" and "You guys are on fire!!" to the band during quiet parts. who does that?

anyway, i ended up staying way too late and having some drinks with the band. then i headed out before their last set around 2.

now, i knew i had heard of soho but couldn't really remember what for. on my way out, there were SO many transvestite prostitutes and weirdo guys with old cars trying to convince me they were taxis. thaaaaaaat's why. but i ended up getting a *real* taxi and made it back to my hotel safely.

the next day i woke up semi-early with a bit of a wine hangover. but i had many more things to do and not enough time to do them in. so i headed for the tube on my way to baker street and madame tussauds. the line wasn't so bad at madame tussauds, so i stood there for about half an hour before realizing there is about 2 hours left of the line once you get inside. but i had already put the time in, so i waited.

then i got to party with my good friends...

humphrey bogart...

the pope...

and my new boyfriend, ronan o'gara...

did i not mention i was dating someone from the irish rugby team?

okay, fine, they're made of wax. and, to be honest, madame tussauds was a bit of a waste of time and money. but apparently it's such a big deal. i was a little disappointed.

so i left before the thing was over, and headed towards the pier and the london bridge.

and, you know, the london bridge was not exactly what i expected. for some reason i was thinking it was going to be this giant intricate thing... but it was really just a bridge. and, as it turns out, it is not falling down.

so i walked across it. and then back.

by this time i had walked so much again that i was exhausted. i went to find a tube station and head back to get ready for the show.

i still wasn't sure whether i was on a list for billy talent or not, but i figured i might as well go and try. i got ready, and headed out to brixton (which also has a bit of a reputation for being a rough area... why do i choose these places?).

i ended up sitting outside for quite a while, because the doors and the stage entrance were both closed. as i was sitting there, i realized that i was probably the oldest person there... and i wasn't wearing enough chains or black makeup... or converse shoes. but i was there!

i ended up getting in. and the show was possibly the best thing ever. and i'm not just talking about concerts.

once i got in, i bought a beer, and sat down. and once i sat down, this group of guys came and decided i was lonely and needed company. they were nice... but once they saw i was drinking, they said "wow!! can you buy us beer???"... and the drinking age is 18! i felt ancient in that place.

but then the band came on...

and made it all worth it...

they played all the songs i wanted to hear. and they were filming their live dvd that night, so i'll get to buy it and say i was there! how fun!

ben with backlighting.

anyway, so the show ended late, and i had to wake up at 6 to catch my plane back to dublin to work at 4 in the afternoon. poor planning, i know.

i woke up about an hour late, and hopped on the tube back to heathrow, still thinking i had enough time. but if you recall my last encounter with heathrow, you'll remember we don't have such a good relationship. i got to the airport, and ended up getting off at the wrong tube station. once you are in the wrong terminal at heathrow, you're screwed.

so i found the express train to the other terminal, cried for a while, and ran like hell once i got there. i went to check in and found out that my plane was delayed anyway. good news for catching the flight, bad news for getting to work on time.

it ended up being delayed about two hours, but i did make it home and to work on time. exhausted... but on time.

so then katherine and adam, two of melinda's friends from home, were staying with us for a few days. they were lovely and lots of fun. too bad i didn't get to spend much time with them because i was working every day, but we did go out on tuesday, which was their last night in town.

kat, adam, melinda

we started out at tante zoe's for dinner, then went to see julius caesar at the abbey street theatre (fantastic!), then headed to temple bar for a few drinks.

melinda showed us how she can fluff up her hair and closely resemble the "hedgehog crossing" sign outside the museum...

Melinda being a hedgehog

then there were some modeling poses such as "smaller jaw, and big lips"...

model poses

and well as "fire in the eyes"...

needless to say, we had a great night.

britt at the temple bar

and since then, it's been work work work.

but now is day 1 of my 4 day weekend! i was thinking of going to berlin for a few days, but i got tickets to the cheltenham trial day at the naas racecourse tomorrow, and i REALLY wanted to go. so i'll go to berlin some other time, this weekend is for horses!

giant hats and pearls are appropriate, right?

so morten and i are off to the races tomorrow. big fun! i'm sure there will be some stories from that as well.

it's really inconvenient that i can't access my blog from home. if anyone knows how to fix it, please help. otherwise, you'll just have to deal with the long and rare posts.

(also: we're coming up on 6 months!)

mind the gap...

girlbits — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

so, this will be short... it's midnight and i fly out tomorrow.

but i just wanted to update a) because i like to be able to change the city i'm posting from and b) to let everyone know my london weekend went swimmingly.

i'll post much more about this trip in the next few days when i'm not tired and running out of wireless time. i have lots of pictures and lots of juicy stories, so keep in touch.

the green green grass of home...

girlbits — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

so, this time i must really apologize for my absense. for some reason i am unable to open my blog at home, so i haven't been able to post anything for far too long. completely out of my hands.

anyway, i'll do my best to catch everyone up. i can hardly remember what's happened over the last few weeks so i'll just go by what i have pictures of.

after kiki left, the danes took me out for dinner and a few drinks. they had a friend in town and i was lonely at home anyway... so why not party it up. we ended up at tante zoe's (our favourite) for dinner which was, once again, fantastic. then we went to a few bars afterwards for some drinks and laughs.

we finally ended up at porterhouse, which is a great 4-level pub in temple bar where they always have live bands and make their own beers. great spot.

so, then last week... well, about 2 weeks now... the lovely and wonderful melinda showed up! you know, i was a little hesitant about another roommate coming in, because no matter who it was they'd have big shoes to fill... but it turns out i am a fabulous-roommate magnet and lucked out once again. she showed up in the morning, i picked her up at the luas, and it's been only laughs and fun since then. good play, melinda, good play.

so the next night i decided to take her out, as i had tickets to the decemberists and thought maybe she'd enjoy it. so we took a cab into town and had a few drinks in the pub first. i'd heard that this was a good venue, but it really was one of the best i've been to. very small and intimate, and quite beautiful. but they also have about 3 bars in the place, which came in handy.

the show ended up being better than i'd expected as well. although, i went in there hoping to hear my two favourite songs and they only played one of them. but i guess you can't win all the time.

so then there was some time in between... and the next interesting thing, i believe, was the superbowl.

a few of the guys from work took me to McSorley's, a pub in ranelagh that would be showing the game in its entirety. and, let me remind you, the superbowl is like 9 hours long and it started at 11:30pm here. and i really didn't think anyone here liked american football, but at least there are enough fans in dublin to pack a pub full of people on superbowl sunday.

it turned out to be a really fun night, and there was actually a hot dog stand IN the pub... the dangers of having a gas grill indoors didn't stop us all from enjoying one too many of those hot dogs filled with danger and fire hazard.

so finally we left the pub around 4:30 or 5, walked to the next town, and got a cab.

work the next day was not as pleasant as usual... but it was well worth it.

what happened next? hmm... there have been a few nights out, a lot of working, a sick day, a SNOW day...

oh! and a dinner party...

i decided to have the danes over for dinner so they could meet melinda and so everyone could experience my newfound culinary expertise. so melinda and i watched the rugby game during the day, cleaned up the house, got cutified, and started cooking for the guests.

dinner was fabulous, and so were the (~) 26 bottles of wine.

it was a really great night, and melinda and the danes got along famously, as i knew they would.

so that brings us to now. i'm off to london tomorrow for a little touristy adventure and the billy talent concert! am i going to the show? am i not? who knows. but i booked the trip anyway. turns out my beautiful and fabulous sister knows someone who is on tour with them and he offered to get me tickets (the show was sold out months ago) and backstage passes. i don't think i've stopped crying or started breathing since i heard this news. but it's still not 100% yet and it's 2 days before the show. so let's just hope everything goes to plan... if not, i'll go see the lion king musical or something.

but my next post should be from the beautiful rainy tornado-y city of london... possibly from my jacuzzi tub in my executive room in my 4 star hotel. how did that happen? don't ask.

so, that's that. we recently passed the 5 month mark, which means i'm nearly halfway through my journey in the emerald isle. whoa, halfway. i need to get moving.

the pipes, the pipes are calling...

girlbits — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

what a crazy week it has been.

do i say that every week?

so last saturday i finally got to see the danes again after them being away for 3 weeks over christmas. i went over to their place for a couple drinks and the plan was that louise and i would go out because the boys were "tired". but they were easily persuaded after a few drinks.

we had a great night out. i really missed those boys.

and the fun continues over at tramway court since exams ended last week. but along with exams ending comes the departure of many of the students here. sad days.

we had the last big party in the apartment next door last wednesday to celebrate the last day of exams.

it got quite messy as everyone left in the building was crammed in the one apartment. it was cramped and hot in there, but everyone just danced the whole night and said our goodbyes in true erasmus style. i had to work the next morning, so i tried my best to keep the drinks to a minimum and go to bed early...

i'm not so good at the self-control though.

anyway, the party was great. and included the final paquito:

and kiki ended up stealing our #42 off the wall outside our apartment, and then wore it on his shirt... luckily later he stole a 4 and a 2 from other apartments and put them back. now #43 is #3 and #21 is #1. but at least 42 is back.

a good last tramway court party anyway.

so that party was not the last. people continued to leave during the week,

and the rest of us went out on saturday night as christophe had to leave at about 4am on sunday morning. we started at our place to drink all the leftover alcohol everyone had, which ended up being quite a bit. there was also a crazy freak snowstorm and we all went out to the balcony to enjoy.

once all the bottles were consumed, we headed out to city center to go to a club called Zanzibar. the ride on the luas was quite eventful as there were several international sing-a-longs.

and an impromptu luas paquito...

finally we made it to Zanzibar and and a fabulous last night for kiki.

there was lots of dancing...

drinking...

self-taken photos...

and other fun...

but we had to leave to get christophe home for his taxi at 4.

it was an emotional night overall. but on the ride home it started setting in that kiki was leaving, and everyone started to get sad.

we got home at about 3:30 to realize that, once again, there was no power in tramway court. and if i explained it well enough the first 2 times, no power in tramway court means no lights, heat, or water. and did i mention as well that it was snowing earlier in the night? yes, it's cold. but a very fitting way for christophe to say goodbye to tramway. was it fate at work? c'est possible.

the rest of the night was a complete wreck. i was fine the whole night... sad, but i hadn't cried. we stood in the courtyard while kiki said goodbye to everyone, and then it was time to go get his luggage. the minute we walked into his room i started crying... up until last night.

it's really just devastating to lose my kiki. it won't be the same around here without him. he's become such a big part of my life over here and, as the comment states, he has become my ireland family. i will truly miss him.

anyway, we came back inside and i clawed around in the dark trying to find the candles and blankets. and thanks, mom and dad, for talking to me while i drunkenly bawled my eyes out over the phone with you. it helped a lot.

then yesterday the power still wasn't on, so the group of us went to blubar, a local pub, for some warmth and warm food.

it's funny that ireland's idea of pub food is either stew or roast meats along with potatoes and vegetables. not quite the same as the greasy stuff you get in pubs at home. it was really nice though.

then we went to tesco to stock up on water and candles, not knowing how long the power would be out.

the power did end up coming back on last night, thank god. i was finally able to clean up the apartment from the party the night before, take a shower, and do the dishes. i did have to throw away all my food from the freezer and fridge, but i find that i appreciate running water much more when i've gone without it for 24 hours.

anyway, more people leave tomorrow. soon it will just be us survivors who are staying in the building for the next few months. vive the survivors!

it's lonely over here without kiki though. i will really miss having him here.

you will miss me, kiki.

tu vas me manquer.

here's lookin at you, kid.

girlbits — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

happy new year! okay, 12 days late. but still.

and happy 4 monthiversary of my arrival in this country. 4 months! they just keep piling up. and my irish accent is really not coming along at all. i'm quite disappointed. bollocks!

well, let's start with new years. i didn't really have many plans, but a couple guys from work decided to take me out to a pub in rathfarnham, a town about 10 minutes from tallaght. it was really packed, but very casual and fun.

i may have had a few drinks so i didn't take many pictures. but we had a great night and i racked up quite the phone bill calling everyone i know back home. i guess it's a little weird when i call up at 4pm drunk saying happy new year. the time difference is slightly confusing still.

but we really had a great time, and i managed to get home by 2am and up for work at 10. me? responsible? what's going on here?

anyway, it was a fabulous new years eve and a great way to bring in 07.

after new years i tried to lay low for a bit and save money and my liver until the students started arriving home. christophe came home on the 6th and finally home feels like home again. until he leaves for good next saturday, anyway. boooooooo.

louise finally came home too and we had a great night out last weekend when we went for a great dinner in temple bar, then a few drinks at our favourite spot, fitzsimon's. as you can see, louise was very happy to see me too.

and now finally all the students in the building are home and it's noisy and full of life again. we visited our local, molloy's, the other night to reunite everyone with a guinness, as we do. it's exam time now so they don't come out much.

i swear i didn't drool on clemens' shirt as it may seem. unfortunate placement of a raindrop.

then i had two days off. i decided it was time again to get out and see something new and interesting in dublin which, in turn, gives me something new and interesting to share with all of you.

so i decided to go to Kilmainham Gaol, an old prison built in 1796.

i was expecting it to be a little creepy, but really was not prepared for what was actually there. when you first walk in, you're in the west wing which is the old part of the prison.

it was cold, dark, and completely eerie. the cells were tiny and had nothing but concrete floors and walls and one small window at the top of the back wall. prisoners didn't have a mattress of any kind, only one blanket and one candle they had to make last 2 weeks.

usually i wouldn't have much sympathy for people in prison because normally you would think of murderers, rapists, and generally horrible people. and of course this place housed many of these people as well, but they also kept women here, as well as children as young as 8 who stole food. most of the prisoners were political and were revolutionaries serving time for crimes against the government.

anyway, then as you walk through the small corridors and a few 4 foot doorways, you get to the east wing, or the "new" wing. this room was enormous and built so that a guard could stand in one certain spot and have a full view of all cells in that wing.

apparently they added the skylight because:

a) in the old wing, prisoners were dying of diseases associated with lack of vitamin D (sunlight) and

b) to remind the prisoners of God.

it was really an amazing place though with some great stories.

afterwards we went out to the courtyard where some very famous political heroes were executed. it was just a big stone courtyard with tall cement walls, but you could see where the walls were worn away from bullets. one small black cross sits in the corner and a plaque on the wall comemorates the people who died there.

needless to say it was a very moving experience. i think it was even scarier because i was there alone and just standing in one of those cells by myself was chilling.

so, after that i needed a walk outside and finally the weather was nice again. so i walked through the grounds of the irish museum of modern art.

i had the intention of going inside, but i spent too long walking around outside and taking pictures and by the end i was tired and hungry and not in the mood for modern art.

but the whole time i was careful of any sheep...

or hedgehogs...

at least i think that's what those are. not quite sure what the signs are for, but i thought they were funny.

at the end of my little adventure i stopped at this old graveyard, because i seem to have developed a strange and slightly creepy fascination with old graveyards.

so now i'm back at work again. boring as usual. kiki leaves next saturday and i'm really not looking forward to it. although, i have a new lovely american girl coming to live here with me for a few months so hopefully she can fill kiki's shoes! (melinda, you have to speak french. hopefully that's okay.)

but, the end of exam week also means big party chez britt & kiki! i'll hide the table this time.

make the yuletide gay...

girlbits — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

christmas is over! and what a christmas it was.

the holidays have been pretty uneventful for me, as was expected.

on the 23rd we had our work christmas party at a posh restaurant/bar downtown called dandelion. lots of people showed up, and we got free drinks all night on paddy.

so, needless to say, i may have had a few drinks. the bar closed so we went downstairs to the nightclub and danced (and drank) the night away. very fun night though.

here's rob and i both making weird faces. i was hired with him.

this is enda and i.

and audrey and i. she's my boss. i think that might be a ghost up in the corner. or maybe a finger.

anyway, then i worked on christmas eve and christmas day. luckily a few people came in on christmas eve so i had company. i was literally the only one in the office on christmas day though. so i just watched movies on all the tv's we're supposed to watch the races on, and got paid an enormous amount of money for it. not so bad!

when i got home, i still had some time before the family woke up, so i started on christmas dinner. i decided to actually make a christmas dinner so that i wouldn't feel like i was missing out... but it ended up looking a little depressing.

how romantic.

anyway, then after dinner and watching "the nightmare before christmas", it was finally time for christmas morning in vancouver. skype really is a wonderful thing, it almost felt like i was in the room. so we both put our video cameras on and opened presents together. and bahbuttons decided to come and say hello...

so it was a good christmas. best i could have asked for under the circumstances, anyway.

and now new years is tomorrow! i think i'm going out with some of the guys from work. not sure what the plan is yet, but i'm hoping it will be good. most of us have to work on new years day anyway so it probably won't be rowdy.

i hope everyone had a great christmas, and have a happy and safe new year!

and in conclusion...

girlbits — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

apparently my last entry sounded a little depressing, so just as a little epilogue, i just wanted to assure everyone that I am not actually as depressed as it sounded. i LOVE everyone's comments and encouragement, but i don't want you to think i'm over here crying all the time and drowning my sorrows.

i am having the time of my life over here and loving every day that passes by. sure, the holidays are a little depressing but i keep a sense of humour about it all and keep on keepin on. i get to experience the holidays in a completely different culture, which is amazing! aside from the obvious missing everyone (and amaretto... i can't find it here) i'm really happy here.

happy christmas everybody! slainte!

a christmas prayer.

girlbits — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

only in Ireland.

bonne noix!

girlbits — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

so, here we are.

again, it's been far too long since i've written anything and i apologize. everyone can stop complaining now.

things have been a little hectic. between all the pre-christmas parties, everyone in the building going home for christmas, working way too much, and morten having an accident with some stairs, things have been a little crazy.

the pre-christmas parties included a fondue night at our place...

a night out at the new pub downstairs...

a group excursion to molloy's...

and a party at the apartment next door...

so at least we all saw a lot of eachother before everyone goes away. it's gotten much quieter around here since everyone left, but last night there was a poker game next door for all the "survivors".

last night was also our danish christmas party at chateau danois.

preben made us a beautiful danish christmas dinner, there were nice gifts, and a rousing game of taboo afterwards. thanks for the night, you guys, i really appreciated it.

anyway, so now there are only about 4 of us left in the building who aren't going home for christmas. i've agreed to work on christmas eve and christmas day so as to avoid sitting at home wallowing, and at least all the guys from work will be around over the next few weeks anyway so i'm not alone by any means.

i'm sure there is so much more to say but i'm not feeling my best today, and it's been so long since i blogged last that it's hard to keep track of everything that has happened. overall, i'm still happy to be here and i'm having a great time. i've decided to stay where i am until may, then probably quit my job and travel around until august when i'll come back home. although, who knows. i haven't really made or stuck to any plans since i left canada, so we'll see.

i'm still planning a small venture probably in january. my Italy trip in december was cancelled due to bank and work issues, but now i think i'm better organized. we're still planning our trip to galway too, so we have that to look forward to as well.

i'm going to miss everyone over christmas though, it's going to be weird not having anyone at home or having louise to party with on weekends. but i'm sure i'll survive a couple weeks.

merry christmas everybody! i hope your holidays are happy.

baile atha cliath!

girlbits — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

happy december, everyone! i can't believe christmas is almost here.

well, this story starts with last week when it was christophe's birthday. he really had 3 birthday parties: one with his parents, one on his real birthday, and the house party last weekend.

so on christophe's real birthday we all headed down to the pub down the street. we'd never been there before, but it was very cute and lounge-like. we had a group of about 30 and closed the bar. great night. then after a cold walk home we passed out at about 3.

i had a couple days off after that and went to city center to do some christmas shopping and go to the art gallery. the city is so heavily decorated for christmas it's unbelievable. very nice though. i was questioning what this sign meant, "baile atha cliath" only to discover it actually means "dublin". then i wondered why they had giant lit-up signs saying "dublin"... but at least they looked nice.

anyway, then we had the party on saturday night. it was so crazy because everyone seemed to get very drunk (except me... i had to work on sunday) and ridiculous. christophe was drunk even before the party started, and didn't stop drinking until i caught him wandering around holding on to the wall for balance.

the party was fun though. at one point i looked over and saw christophe with his head in the fridge and thought nothing of it until i noticed he had been standing there a bit too long. i walked over and realized he had actually passed out IN the fridge while getting a beer. possibly the funniest thing ever.

there was lots of dancing and fun times though, which is great. i ended up the last one standing because christophe passed out (in bed, not in the fridge) and there were still a bunch of people here. so i had to wait for everyone to leave.

you may be wondering what is happening here. i can't say for sure, but i know it goes along with a spanish song where they yell "HEY! HEY!" a lot and throw their hands in the air. then they all lock arms under their legs and say "HEY! HEY!" again. don't ask me.

but i was well behaved and made it to work for 9am the next morning.

someone mentioned that neither of us are irish, and questioned why we have the giant irish flag. so i got out my canadian flag and christophe made his own french flag, so as to represent our 3 countries.

anyway, other than that i've been working and hanging out with the guys from work mostly. morten, preben, and louise were in london for the weekend so i didn't get to see them. i see the students from my building quite often too though and we like to go out to molloy's, our neighbourhood pub, quite often for some drinks and socializing.

the weather has been crazy insane over here as well. there was a storm last night that knocked over so many trees, lamp posts, and traffic lights that they had to close down tallaght village (where i live). walking home from work was hell, as the wind and rain were actually hurting my face, and the wind ended up knocking me over into a puddle. i wasn't happy.

so that's that. everything is going well here, and dublin is treating me well. i'm getting a little sad about christmas and starting to miss my family and friends, but overall i'm having a great time here and always looking forward to the next experience or adventure in the old smoke.

merde! ca caille!

girlbits — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

another week gone by. like sand through an hourglass. so are the days of our lives.

i had thursday off last week and decided to go visit the big city for some shopping and adventure. turns out they've decorated for christmas already just to remind me that i have no one.

it's very pretty though.

then i called louise to go for lunch and she had plans to go out for some drinks with some of the guys she works with. we ended up at Bob's, a bar in Temple Bar that has karaoke in the evening. we had a few drinks there then headed to SIN, a nightclub just up the street from Temple Bar.

SIN was a little weird, but we managed to enjoy ourselves. as we do.

then on friday, christophe's parents arrived from France to visit for the weekend. the first time they came over was on friday evening when i had just gotten off work (after not sleeping at all and going to work hungover) and was lying on the couch in my pyjamas eating ice cream and watching a movie wrapped in my duvet. not such a pretty sight.

then on saturday they came over in the morning with christophe and they had to buzz in because the front door was broken. so i woke up to open the door, again not looking so hot.

not the best first or second impression. but then they came over last night to make a big fondue dinner for the family and some friends in the building. they brought specialty french cheeses with them to make dinner for everyone. how nice.

it was a good little party, anyway. lots of wine, cheese, and baguette. and only french speaking! my french is definitely getting much better.

so we had dinner, then christophe's family brought out a pie they had also brought over from France and we all sang happy birthday (did i mention this was all because it's christophe's birthday? i think i missed that part) in french, of course.

it was very nice of the family to visit, i really enjoyed their company.

so, finally his family left and then we realized how drunk christophe was. he suddenly had this idea to rearrange the apartment, and decided that the irish flag needed to go on the wall.

but first he wrapped himself in it.

then remembered that we don't have a hammer or nails... so he found a pot and a hook screw and started wailing on it.

but finally he hung up the flag and we are all very happy for it.

how patriotic of us.

can i just say as well that yesterday marked the biggest, craziest storm i have ever experienced in my life? i have honestly never seen anything like it.

on my way to work yesterday the weather was fine. not raining, but just a little cloudy. then i went outside on my break and i couldn't get the door open on account of the howling wind.

finally when it was time for me to go home, i tried to call a cab, but sat on hold for about 10 minutes and decided it wasn't worth it. rain was really coming from all directions, and the wind was causing the puddles to splash up. i had to keep ducking around corners because the wind was pushing me so hard. i kept laughing because i felt like a mime pretending to be in a strong wind, but it was actually happening.

and i wasn't dressed like a mime.

i actually kept thinking there was a tornado because the wind sounded like a train and trees and debris were flying everywhere. no tornado though.

so that brings us to now. i woke up this morning and it was sunny, which seemed impossible after the weather catastophe that happened yesterday.

other than that, everything is well over here in tramway court. missing everyone, i hope you're all well.

don't be strangers.

merry christmas? merry kiss my ass.

girlbits — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

two weeks without an entry! i apologize. i have had no internet at home for a while now, which makes it difficult to post. but i'll try to catch you up as best i can...

so what has happened in two weeks? let me see...

well, the weather has been beautiful. pretty cold, but at least it has remained sunny so at least it looks nice. so we took advantage of the sun by putting the table on the patio and having lunch out there as often as we can.

a french guy with a baguette? how clichee.

anyway, work has been super busy so i've been working a lot of overtime and trying to keep up. i was so used to bodog where you get a break in between phone calls, but it's not quite like that here. at least i don't get bored.

so the frenchies have come over a few times... as they do... this time it was to share "gunther" videos. if you haven't heard of gunther, he's a guy (i believe he's german... maybe swedish...) who sings these ridiculous songs. look him up on youtube, it's worth it. but anyway, tramway court (my building) is obsessed with him and we dedicated a special night to watching his videos.

there may have been a few drinks involved as well.

other than that i haven't really done much as i still haven't cashed one paycheque on account of the bank hating me and wanting me out of the country. well, they don't hate me, but they certainly don't make it easy to set up a bank account. so i've been working for a month and haven't made any money yet.

but i think i got all that worked out today and i should have my money in 3 working days... right...

so this weekend was fun as i was invited to morten and preben's for dinner, some games, and a few drinks. they made me a fantastic dinner, then we played a few rounds of jenga (or sticks, as they call it)...

and then by accident we all ended up at the local nightclub until 3am. seriously, none of us are sure how it happened.

a couple jagerbombs and one too many pints of bulmers later...

we danced the night away, stumbled home around 3, and i slept at their place.

now back to work tomorrow. i'm happy that i'm enjoying my job, and i'm meeting some great people in the process. although, i was thinking today that my "traveling" has come to a stop and i'm getting too comfortable here with so many resources at my fingertips. so i've been researching a bit and i think a trip to florence in december might be the plan.

i'm spending christmas alone in a foreign country, so i figured the least i could do is surprise myself with a weekend away during the most depressing month of my adventure. i'm so good to me.

and plus, the good thing about not being able to cash my cheques for so long is that i've accumulated quite a lot of money. and i'll be getting a tax cheque in the next few weeks! and i hear italy is beautiful in december.

so lots of things coming up! louise and i had a trip to galway planned, but the banking issues put a bit of a damper on that one and she's going to london next week, so we may have to save that trip until the new year. which is okay, because all we have is time.

plus, i've been getting a little homesick lately. we were talking about it being the "2 month blues" (it was 2 months on saturday) and apparently this is the time that you start missing home. i could attribute it to the fact that they've started playing christmas music in the mall already... but who knows. anyway, the fact is, i miss my family and friends at home. it's such an interesting feeling and test of my own strength to be so far away and to miss everything going on at home.

but, what i said to louise on saturday when she was being sad was that home will always be there when you get back, and nothing will have changed except for you.

so nobody change until i get back so i can prove myself right. thanks.

anyway, it's bed time for me. i'll try to post at least once a week so you can at least know that i'm alive and well.

you're a star.

girlbits — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

happy halloween everyone!

turns out halloween isn't really that big of a deal here. it's really just an excuse for teenagers to light fireworks everywhere... which is fun for everyone, really. if you like being afraid for your life.

anyway, i went to work dressed as a canadian girl. no one else dressed up either... and i really didn't even remember it was halloween until i stepped outside and thought i had stepped into the middle of a gunfight.

so, i walked home... quickly... and realized i really live in the best place for halloween. not that i live IN the cemetery, but it's quite appropriate.

creepy!

and then got home and colm, the guy upstairs, has the spinning colourful lights on again that he projects onto the building next door.

sure, you don't really get the idea from the picture... but it's pretty cool.

anyway, that's the extent of my halloween excitement! a cemetery and some lights! man, it's always a party in dublin.

dubliween!

girlbits — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

okay, everyone stop panicking, i'm still alive.

as i said last time, it's a bit more difficult to take pictures and come up with interesting stories now that i'm settled in and becoming more comfortable in my new country.

i've been working lots, which normally would be a bad thing, but i'm really enjoying my job. yesterday someone (yes you, henrik) asked me why i would come to a completely different country just to work pretty much the same job i was working at home. and frankly, i think this is a subject worth exploring.

it's because it's not the same job. whether i'm doing the same thing or not is not the point. it's the fact that i've successfully left a job that made me feel underappreciated, and moved on to a job that may not be my lifelong dream, but it's teaching me a thing or two about living in this fantastic country, and allowing me to live here comfortably.

so who am i trying to convince? i don't know. it's just that so many people ask me why i'm here, and what my purpose is. so i start thinking "what AM i doing here??". obviously i know why i'm here, i wouldn't have moved to a country i'd never been to without a reason for going... but i guess it does seem a little strange to some people.

it's almost been two months since i left home and i'm really starting to get a bit nostalgic about the whole experience. i miss home because i miss knowing a lot of people, knowing where i am at all times, and having my family to fall back on when i need them. i also miss breakfast at joe's, and skim milk... but that's another story. but at the same time it's an interesting adventure and test of my sanity. even though i do miss home, i can't imagine being ready to go home in ten months.

anyway, enough about that and more about halloween in dublin. last night, morten, preben, louise and i went for a night on the town to experience halloween weekend in dublin.

it was pretty much the same as any other night in dublin, but a little less busy, and a few more fake spiderwebs. it's a long weekend here, so most people go away and the bars were actually less packed than a normal saturday night... which ended up being really good because we could actually breathe in the bar.

i made my way to morten and preben's house for a few warm-up bulmers, then we all took a cab to the city. We went to the porterhouse, which is a bar i heard about from some guys at work. they had it all decorated for halloween, and the bar itself had about 4 floors and on the second floor there was a live band.

the bar was pretty packed, but it was nice to actually be able to move and breathe inside, unlike an average saturday night at a pub in temple bar.

we met a fabulous british couple who had been traveling by motorcycle for the past few months, drank some interesting tequila flavoured beer, had one too many jager-bombs, and left at a reasonable hour (about 2:30).

there weren't very many people dressed up. there were a couple devils in the bar, but nothing very exciting. not until we walked through temple bar and met up with the pimp, the sumo wrestler, and the... umm... sexy lady?

the pimp actually handcuffed louise to herself and made her "motorboat" the guy dressed in the fat sexy lady costume before she let her go. that was quite amusing.

we ended up losing morten and preben on the street at some point, we ran into my roommate and a bunch of the people from my building and started some sort of strange sing-a-long in the street, then i finally caught a cab home.

a great night, if you ask me. i could be feeling better today, but at least i don't have to work so i can lie around, watch movies, eat popcorn, and lounge around in my jamjams.

missing all of you. it's almost time for visitors! who's first? and if not, could you please send me an omelette from joe's, and a glass of skim milk... thanks.

dance everybody, make it hot...

girlbits — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

it's been a while! i guess i really haven't had much to say as i've pretty much settled in here and life is getting a little less exciting. well, not less exciting for me, but possibly less exciting to read about.

work is going really well. i love the people i work with, the job is fairly easy (other than trying to understand the accents), and it's so close to home. but seriously, have you ever talked to a scottish person on the phone? that's not even english.

louise and i went to the city on wednesday for a couple pints. back to fitzsimons! that pub is so great because there is a bar on the main floor with live music, a rooftop terrace upstairs with music and 2 bars, and a dance club downstairs. all you could possibly need in one place! we love it there.

we ended up staying out a bit later than we had planned, but were too busy dancing to think about going home. on our way out, louise went up to the singer and told him that i want to marry him. sure, i may have said that... but that's not something i wanted him to know. anyway, he invited us back for his show next week.

other than that, nothing has really changed. my apartment is still lovely and my roommate is still fabulous.

i've had a few requests for pictures that i finally got around to taking. if you have any other requests, please let me know.

here is my work:

the courtyard of my building as seen from my bedroom window (that is the building next door, which is really the same building, just separated by the courtyard):

my kitchen (those dishes on the counter are clean):

and a view of the whole balcony (that's my apartment there on the left):

and here's a picture of a rainbow i saw today. my first thought was "how original, Ireland, really":

and that's it! i think we're heading out to temple bar tonight to go to a new bar i heard about. apparently good bands play there, so we'll check it out. if it's not good, fitzsimon's is always close by.